Jockeying to gain an edge in the mayoral runoff, Wendy Greuel and Eric Garcetti are highlighting plans to create jobs, cut red tape to help businesses and spur the city's economy. Garcetti on Friday discussed economic revitalization at a gourmet-sausage and craft-beer restaurant in Atwater Village, where the centerpiece of the neighborhood used to be a casket shop. Now it's a hipster haven, with a Bikram yoga studio and the trendy farm-to-table eatery Canele. And Greuel, in her first stop Wednesday after winning a spot in the runoff, dropped by an architectural design firm in the San Fernando Valley that faced a series of problems when it tried to build an innovative facility with features like a permeable parking lot. "I'm not going to hire a job czar, I'm going to be the jobs czar," she said.

One key to launching a successful business is finding the right problem to solve. That's why so many entrepreneurs are inspired by problems they encounter themselves or that stymie their family and friends. The trick is not confusing an anecdote for a trend. For example, consider Ramin Bastani, founder and chief executive officer of Los Angeles-based Qpid.me . The company's website is designed to help people deal with one of life's great mysteries: namely, is it safe to have sex with someone I just met in a bar?

The job outlook at America's small businesses is the worst it's ever been, according to new research. Last month, 21% of small business owners said they expected to lower head count over the next six months - the highest percentage recorded by the Wells Fargo/Gallup Small Business Index since its launch in 2003. In July, the last time the data was compiled, just 10% of bosses said they planned to shrink employee ranks. More than six in 10 owners said they would keep their workforce steady, while 17% said they intended to boost hiring.

The gig: Rick Wetzel and Bill Phelps are the chieftains of pretzel empire Wetzel's Pretzels. As co-founders of the Pasadena chain, the pair oversee a company with 263 franchises worldwide, 3,000 employees and $107 million in annual sales. There's also 12 company-owned stores that employ 150 people. Origin story: In 1994, the two were working in marketing at Nestle USA. On a business trip to Seattle, the colleagues, who weren't friends at the time, started kicking around the idea of pretzels as a new snack-food business.

Ford Motor Corp. has named Mark Fields, the chief of its North American business, as the automaker's new chief operating officer and handed him responsibility for the day-to-day operations of its global business. The announcement Thursday by Executive Chairman Bill Ford was designed to quell speculation about the future of the automaker's chief executive, Alan Mulally. Mulally, 67, is credited with restructuring the company's operations and guiding it through the recession without the bankruptcy reorganizations and federal bailouts of General Motors Co. and Chrysler Group.

Mixology king Aidan Demarest's Glendale hideaway, Neat , turns 1 this Sunday. To celebrate the milestone, Demarest is throwing a birthday bash that day featuring a backyard BBQ, lots of Sailor Jerry barrel-aged cocktails and a stellar lineup of guest bartenders including John Lermayer, Erick Castro, Mia Sarazen, Rich Andreoli and Arash Pakzad. "I've got so many bartenders working that night that there won't be room for customers," jokes Demarest, adding that another superstar bartender is on the roster who he can't announce yet. When Demarest opened Neat, his business plan flew in the face of the city's thriving mixology scene.

If you like your sports with a morality play attached - the team of destiny, the team that refused to lose, the team that overcame adversity, and so on - then root, root, root for the New York Yankees and the Oakland Athletics. The Yankees spent the most money on players this season. The Athletics spent the least. If the Yankees and A's advance to the American League Championship Series, the story line will be all about the money. The David-vs- Goliath cliche will be working overtime.

A Los Angeles maker of kid-oriented products is suing Toys R Us Inc. for allegedly ripping off its business plan to sell a tablet computer geared for children. In a suit filed in federal court in San Diego, Fuhu Inc. accuses the toy giant of stealing trade secrets and trademark information to launch its own $150 tablet called Tabeo, which will hit store shelves next month. Last holiday season, Fuhu sold a similar tablet called Nabi exclusively through Toys R Us before terminating the agreement in January.

Hawk Koch remembers sitting with his family at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in 1989 and watching as his father, Hollywood producer Howard W. Koch, received the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences' Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award at the Oscars. The elder Koch had served as academy president in the 1970s and had worked on films as diverse as"The Manchurian Candidate"and "Airplane. " He addressed his son - who by then had produced "Gorky Park" and had served as first assistant director on"Chinatown" - from the dais.